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| Arabia |
| U.S. launched drone from secret Saudi base: reports |
| 2013-02-06 |
| [REUTERS] The United States is operating a secret base out of Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face... and used it to launch a CIA drone strike in 2011 that killed U.S.-born al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki, according to a media report. I'm still trying to figure why everybody's Oh Dearing about Awlaki's departure from this vale of tears. If he'd been running a brigade of SS in 1944 nobody would have turned a hair. And if he'd been captured he'd have been stood against a wall and shot. Part of the reason is that in 1944, the SS was seen by most reasonable people as the enemy... The Washington Post, in a report on Wednesday, said the Middle East base was set up two years ago as part of U.S. officials effort to ramp up its search for members of the hard boy group. Can't fly the drones in from Nevada or someplace. Best to keep them close to where they'll be needed. Representatives for the CIA declined to comment on the report. And quite properly. The disclosure is the latest on the nation's controversial drone strike policy ahead of White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan's Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday over his nomination to become CIA director. I have nothing against using drones to zap Qaeda commanders, or even individual turban cannon fodder. As far as I'm concerned, their "nationality" is al-Qaeda. Dronezaps within the USA is a different matter entirely. Drones themselves, as recon devices, are nothing but a tool -- one that could be used to good effect to control our borders. White House officials had asked the newspaper to refrain from revealing the strategic base in the powerful oil nation, citing concerns that the information could undermine the hunt, the Washington Post said in its story. Lemme see, here. We've got intel assets deployed in a country that spews forth slobbering, wild-eyed jihadis. What might they be tempted to do when they realize they're close to the source of their torment before even exfiltrating? "The Post learned Tuesday night that another news organization New York Times, I'd guess. Except for maybe the LA Times all the other newspapers in the country are essentially moribund. was planning to reveal the location of the base, effectively ending an informal arrangement among several news organizations that had been aware of the location for more than a year," it wrote. Insert blabber about "people's right to know" here. Getting the story of the location of the drone base out is important to the public and overrides security concerns, and thus is a fundamental obligation of the press. But informing us of the cavorting of a New Joisey Democrat with underage Dominican hookers is something to be avoided, tut-tut, by any respectable newspaper. |
| Posted by:Fred |